Peak Music

[Slacker]

It's all a matter of opinion, of course, but I consider "Let It Bleed" far better than "Sticky Fingers." Consider "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" -- they stand out as rock anthems more than anything else the Stones have done before or since.

So, I'm changing my vote. "Let It Bleed" is the pinnacle of Rolling Stones artistry.

I've always thought "Paint It Black" is a peak Stones song, too.

 

[cyclingwriter2]

Speaking of Creedence, there's a new documentary on Netflix with their concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. There really isn't much footage of these guys, and apparently the producers got the rights to this right after the film surfaced. There's a fairly standard band doc that follows their progress, and then you get the full concert. There are no theatrics, it's a very businesslike set with the band pretty much walking out and then standing there and playing. The stage is all but bare, just a drum riser, a couple of Marshall stacks and a bass cabinet. No big PA.

What's striking is that they walk out there and bang out the songs and they sound exactly like the record. No theatrics, no drama. There's maybe two guitar pedals. It's very bare bones, these guys just play their music. It's still pretty cool, because you never get concert footage of CCR. It's truly an artifact of another time.

i watched it the other night and noticed a couple of things:
1. Almost no banter on stage. I'm not sure if that was normal back then for other musicians, but it surprised me.
2. They played like the they sounded on their records. I almost thought it had to be dubbed, but apparently because they used almost no effects or other musicians in studio, they could recreate their sound on stage.
3. They were tight. They only seemed to jam once or twice. It was fascinating.

It also was fun to see them as being so low key.

 

[Slacker]

i watched it the other night and noticed a couple of things:
1. Almost no banter on stage. I'm not sure if that was normal back then for other musicians, but it surprised me.
2. They played like the they sounded on their records. I almost thought it had to be dubbed, but apparently because they used almost no effects or other musicians in studio, they could recreate their sound on stage.
3. They were tight. They only seemed to jam once or twice. It was fascinating.

It also was fun to see them as being so low key.

That's the Eagles, too. They stand up there and match every song to the album version.

ZZ Top was much more fun in concert. They would jam for five minutes in the middle of each song.

 

[X-Hack]

It's all a matter of opinion, of course, but I consider "Let It Bleed" far better than "Sticky Fingers." Consider "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" -- they stand out as rock anthems more than anything else the Stones have done before or since.

So, I'm changing my vote. "Let It Bleed" is the pinnacle of Rolling Stones artistry.

I love "Let it Bleed." Especially Monkey Man and Midnight Rambler. And I'm not sure there's a better song in their catalog than Gimme Shelter. And I admit Sticky Fingers has two of my least favorite Stones hits (Brown Sugar and Wild Horses). But songs like Sway, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Sister Morphine and Moonlight Mile just nail it for me.

Fuck. It's hard to say one is better than the other. They're both better than Exile, which is obviously still a masterpiece in its own right. But what a run they had in the Mick Taylor years.

 

[swingline]

Tom Waits -- "Rain Dogs."

Bone Machine is a better listen.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Heart of Saturday Night.

 

[maumann]

For me, peak musicianship outweighs peak popularity. And I'm basing my choices on what I remember thinking the first time I heard these albums all the way through and the "wow" factor. I can remember immediately wanting to reset the needle for these.

Rubber Soul and Revolver
Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago II
The Cars and Candy-O
Turn of a Friendly Card and Eye in the Sky
Double Vision and Foreigner 4

And Hal Ketchum's Past the Point of Rescue is so damn good from start to finish. A very underrated talent.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Turn of a Friendly Card and Eye in the Sky

You CANNOT be Sirius ...

(*silly grin emoji...*)

 

[JRoyal]

— Pearl Jam, Vitalogy: I think musically and lyrically this is their best album overall. Musically, they have better songs on some albums. Same lyrically. But top to bottom, beginning to end, this is their best work.

— The Milk Carton Kids, All The Things That I Did And All The Things That I Didn't Do: Just love this album. "Mourning in America" may be my favorite song from them.

— Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: I love a lotta Wilco, and this is definitely the popular pick, but it has more great songs than any other album to me.

— Live, Mental Jewelry: Their biggest hits came off Throwing Copper, but I'll take "Pain Lies on the Riverside" over "Lightning Crashes" every day. A compelling album from beginning to end.

— Weezer, Weezer (1994): I could buy arguments for Pinkerton or the Green Album, but for me Weezer peaked on their first album. And most of their stuff has been at a helluva high level since.

 

[Twirling Time]

Peak music overall was probably reached before the start of the SoundScan era in 1991, which progressively led to the high fragmentation of music genres we see today.

 

[Songbird]

Whatever album this was on was peak Weezer.



Still not RnRHoF (hi, Dick Whitman)

 

[Songbird]

Whatever album this was on was peak Weezer.



Still not RnRHoF (hi, Dick Whitman)

There was a thing in the '90s where bands made videos with slo-mo visuals. Weezer above with slo-mo hackeysacking ('94).

And Supergrass with slo-mo pogo-sticking in Late in the Day ('97). I've seen it in other videos from that era.

The wailing in the guitar solos is as good as it gets.